Come Clarity

Come Clarity features no less than 13 slabs of Swedish metal

After leaving Ceremonial Oath in the late '80s to form In Flames, founding member and guitarist Jesper Stromblad saw this project as a way of expressing his song writing creativity rather than being stuck in the background. With his added influences of Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and his own touch of aggressive metal acts that overwhelmed home country of Sweden, In Flames released their debut Lunar Strain in 1993. In the tradition of many other Swedish metal acts, In Flames also had a revolving line up that changed year after year. In 1996 the band's line up was finally settled with Bjorn Gelotte (drums), Anders Friden (vocals), Peter Iwers (bass) and David Svensson (drums). Today In Flames are one of those metal bands that are sitting on the edge of breaking it big time in the UK and they’ve been there for quite a while. Their latest attempt to get promotion to the next league is the unleashing of a brand new album Come Clarity. The album features no less than 13 slabs of Swedish metal. While its not another Jester Race or Whoracle it’s definitely a start in the right direction. Everything flows perfectly throughout this disc; the bass soldering with the drums, the guitars meshing in complete harmony, and the vocals burning into the songs.

Mature progression with all the distinctive traits In Flames are known for

Opener Take This Life kicks the action off in storming fashion with a ferocious intro and killer chorus. This one will be a great live set opener and will no doubt quickly become a new favorite amongst the In Flames faithful. Leeches and Reflect the Storm follow and both retain the level of quality of the first track ensuring a consistently strong start. Dead End is a superlative track and is enhanced by the delicate addition of female vocals from fellow Swede, singer/songwriter Lisa Miskovsky (its been a while since In Flames shared the mic with a female singer). Title track Come Clarity begins with a lavish acoustic intro before launching into a super melodic chorus that will stay on your mind for weeks. This song shows their mature progression, with all the distinctive traits In Flames are known for. A further highlight is the excellent Crawling Through Knifes. With super guitar melodies and the strong chorus, this could well be a contender for best song on the album. The closing Your Bedtime Story Is Scaring Everyone is an experimental piece of music, to say the least. It includes radio static and piano. Friden doesn’t chime in until the final 90 seconds. Interesting way to end the disc.

It seems that In Flames have finally found their sound

All those fans who thought In Flames were no longer capable of writing better or equal songs as Episode 666 or Pinball Map will get the surprise of their life: these are thirteen of them! Come Clarity is the best album by In Flames yet and the amount of superlatives for this disc is almost uncountable. The band really outshone them selves at every possible level. In Flames have always been a band with a lot of diversity in their music and this new release is no exception to that rule. The album is an excellent listen and will please all of In Flames followers. After various experimentations on past albums, it seems that In Flames have finally found their sound. Come Clarity sounds much more like the awesome Clayman but with the addition of all the best bits of Reroute to Remain and Soundtrack to Your Escape. And the result is exactly how it should be: jagged songs without being disposed of any melody and with enough of refrains, which echo in your head easily. This album has more chance than any other In Flames record to date to finally take them over the finishing line and be rated amongst the elite.